Laurence

The garrigue goes up in smoke

Tour du monde d’une éco-volontaire : le village des tortues à Gonfaron (6/7). La relève arrive. Ouf ! La soudure entre les mois de juillet et août a été assurée. Jean, Bérangère et moi pouvons enfin souffler. Nous sommes même en sur-effectif, il n’y a pas assez de place pour tout le monde. Ce n’est …

Turtles in the spotlight at a freeway service area

An eco-volunteer's world tour: the turtle village in Gonfaron (5/7). Saturday, July 29, Vidauban area. The men in yellow are on their guard, and the very, very smart Bison has announced a black day! Thousands and thousands of motorists will be on the road, and this is an opportunity for companies and associations to occupy the area. The Turtle Village has chosen one of the busiest service areas in the south of France to make its presence felt. I find myself in a huge hall, between a snack bar, a café and a newspaper shop. In the middle of the flow of bipeds entering, thirsty and dripping with sweat after several hours on the road, there I sit, surrounded by four panels on the life of Madame Hermann and the dangers she faces. My mission is simple: to stop the "Julytists" and "Augustists" in their mad rush and tell them about the little tortoise of the Moors.

An ecovolunteer's world tour: the turtle village in Gonfaron (4/7)

Day at the snack bar. I'm replacing a perm, who's taking the day off. The only thing I can hope for is that there's hardly anyone there. I'm not looking forward to juggling Italian-style ice cream, the deep fryer and the coffee machine. In the end, the morning is even quieter than I'd hoped. So I immerse myself in a book about turtles written by the center's manager. I learn a great deal, not least about the popularity of this reptile, which was once considered the messenger of evil, as it emerged from the earth with the arrival of spring. Fortunately, in the meantime, La Fontaine 's worms have done their job, making the tortoise a much-loved reptile - perhaps a little too much so.

Two turtles arrive at the village clinic

Tour du monde d’une éco-volontaire : le village des tortues à Gonfaron (3/7). Quinze jours et déjà des au-revoirs. Ici, les bénévoles restent entre deux semaines et deux mois. Aujourd’hui, Philippe et Hermine s’en vont, je les aimais bien. Mais les rencontres et les séparations, en voyage, c’est la règle. J’y suis habituée. Echange de …

Tour du monde d’une éco-volontaire : le village des tortues de Gonfaron (2/7)  . Début de la journée au magasin. Je tiens la boutique et m’occupe des entrées avec Philippe. Lui, il n’a jamais travaillé, c’est un jeune étudiant en biologie qui en sait beaucoup sur les histoires de génétique et de biodiversité. Moi, cela fait …

An eco-volunteer's world tour: the turtle village of Gonfaron (1/7). The rucksack is hastily packed. I only take the bare minimum, and I'm light on the pharmacy as I'm staying in France. A second, smaller rucksack, positioned on my stomach, takes a little more time with the computer, camera and various cables.
I get on the train and head for Gonfaron listening to Tahitian music, slipping into a gentle torpor accompanied by Emma's songs from the famous belle époque and Tahiti Talk "De l'autre côté du monde". The train plunges into an increasingly Mediterranean setting, revealing the first umbrella pines and cork oaks planted on the white limestone cliffs.

uniscite civil service for environmental protection

TheUnis-Cités association, which recruits young people for civil service, has just launched the Médiaterre program (October 2009). For the first pilot year, 120 young volunteers will be working on environmental issues in working-class neighborhoods.

Visit nature workcamp as eco-citizen commitment. The Blongios association organizes some forty workcamps a year. Its aim is to get people involved in protecting the environment at a local level. There's no need to travel far to take action. On a regional, departmental or local scale, all goodwill is welcome. Meet Jean-Baptiste Boulange, the association's technical supervisor.

De retour du Kirghizistan, Anne Ouvrard, responsable scientifique de l’expédition Panthera, livre son expérience des plaines d’Asie Centrale parcourues à dos de cheval, sur les traces de la panthère des neiges. Vous êtes biologiste et avez accompagné, en 2009, en tant que responsable scientifique, des écovolontaires sur les traces de la panthère de neiges. Pouvez-vous …

"I first set my sights on birds and plants, and that led me to eco-citizenship." Interview with Laurence Girard, director of A Pas de Loup, a leading French association for ecovolunteering.

"I've already seen volunteers' life paths change when they return from a mission. When I see a sparkle in the eye of an ecovolunteer, I say to myself that it's a sure thing." Director and co-founder of the association A Pas de Loup, des volontaires pour la nature, Laurence Girard has been enabling volunteers to go on missions to help scientists protect the planet for over fifteen years. Driven by a strong passion for nature from an early age, it was after writing her dissertation on the impact of tourism in the polar regions that she came into contact with the world of ecovolunteering, even before the term was coined.

The garrigue goes up in smoke

Turtles in the spotlight at a freeway service area

Turtles in the collective imagination

Two turtles arrive at the village clinic

The earth is overheating in Turtle Village

Turtle village: love at first sight for Ms Hermann

Médiaterre: your civil service in environmental protection

Encounter: the story of the Blongios or nature in the making

The Panthera expedition to Kyrgyzstan with Anne Ouvrard

A Pas de Loup's Laurence Girard at the heart of eco-citizen commitment